I’ve been watching this video over and over lately, and feeling inspired by it’s message. Connecting children to the natural world is a key part of our journey at Flinders, and finding moments of inspirations such as this help validate our path.
This video is making us think about how we can translate these experiences to our context – how can we generate deep connections with nature for children? Especially those children who are under three? What environments should we develop, what experiences should we facilitate?
How can we build hidden woods at Flinders?
Hidden Woods – Being inspired
As an educator I am extremely excited about exploring this particular area…. and as a parent of older children I kind of wish I had so much information available when they were smaller, so I see all of this as a positive push toward the future, but for the moment in regard to my own practices as a parent and my own children (who are now much older),… I have always seen children as people who should have a voice. As a child myself i remember quite clearly phrases such as children should be seen and not heard and this was the expectation as I grew up.My own children, however always had a voice, I believe and I feel that they were respected as a people and treated as such. My image of the child, therefore, is that children deserve respect. They are people with a voice, with feelings, that can make choices, that are capable, can be independent, clever and creative…. if only we allow them and give them the opportunity to do so!